Harold Hopkinson brought his love for his community and all his engineer's precision to the Manlius Village Board. In his long career as trustee, he served as liaison to every Village department and on most of the construction committees. The largest Village project, started during his early days as a Trustee, was the decision to install street drainage systems. This disruption tested the patience of the Trustees and the Village residents for five years, giving Harold a chance to deal with adversity in meeting after meeting.

Those early days were also a time of great Village expansion as subdivision after subdivision became part of the Village and its water and sewer services.
This was a time to create parks and recreation programs which Harold also thought were important. His earliest service to the Village, before the Village Board, was on the all-volunteer Manlius Community Council which organized recreation events for the residents. He advocated a "walking Village" and promoted walkways linking various Village locations.

He also served on the Manlius Library board and was one of the founders of the Manlius Historical Society and served as its artisan blacksmith for many years. As one of his friends remembered, "Any project Harold had came in on time and on or under budget."

Most of all he was truly a community-minded person who always considered what would be best for Manlius. After serving 57 years as a Village Trustee (the longest serving elected official in NYS) his commitment to the betterment of Manlius stands as an example to us all.
We are grateful for his mentoring and his service. Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.